Welfare in the museum: a comparative exhibition analysis of the articulation of welfare in Nordic national museums

Nordic countries are recognised for their welfare systems, and the concept of welfare is an integral part of the countries’ national identities and narratives. The objective of this article is to examine the narratives of welfare in the national museums of cultural history in and across the Nordic region. As national museums, their role is arguably pivotal in creating and reproducing such narratives. Employing a comparative exhibition analysis conducted from 2023 to 2024 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway, the study reveals a higher centrality of the concept of welfare in the Swedish case, correlating with a classical swedo-centrism in international discourse on Nordic welfare. Across the museums, the study further shows that welfare is mostly mentioned in passing and mainly with a focus on past perspectives and systemic aspects of welfare. Based on these findings, we propose a greater attention towards welfare’s contemporary and contested nature. Furthermore, we suggest directions for further research that investigates audience-focused narratives of welfare.